Through the years, Vanmoor has filed suits against the cities of Pompano Beach, Oakland Park and Fort Lauderdale, all alleging that police unfairly zeroed in on his escort service while others were left alone.

"He took everything that the Fort Lauderdale police did as personal and selective," said attorney Dieter Gunther, who represented the city. "But my response to that is that what the police did was they went after the biggest guy in the business."

None of his lawsuits against municipalities resulted in victories for Vanmoor, but he did win a $3.15 million jury verdict in a Los Angeles courtroom last August against a company that stopped processing credit card transactions for his business. Vanmoor's attorneys argued that the company illegally withheld $150,000 that was due him.

The jury verdict ended up getting reduced by the judge to $600,000, and the judge then turned around and awarded $800,000 in attorney fees to the credit card processing company, said Howard King, one of Vanmoor's attorneys. The case is under appeal.

"On an IQ level, he's off the charts," King said of Vanmoor. "He's very smart, very engaging and very motivated. I think he would be successful in any business he would want to be in."

Assistant State Attorney Scott Dressler said Vanmoor won't be missed.

"I think the people of South Florida are better off without him," Dressler said.

Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.